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News Desk


Applying Force Majeure to the coronavirus outbreak


There has been much commentary in the trade press on whether Force Majeure (FM) applies with issues concerning the coronavirus outbreak and the impact on the supply chain. The BIFA Standard Trading Conditions clauses 24A and 24B cover such events. The BIFA FM clause is robust


and wide in that it contains a few types of specific FM events in 24(A) and has a sweep-up provision in 24(B) covering “any cause or event which the company is unable to avoid, and the consequences of which the company is unable to prevent by the exercise of reasonable diligence”. The event of coronavirus clearly


cannot have been avoided and Members have to be able to show that they are unable to prevent any consequences arising from the existence of the virus and how it is being treated by various governments that relate to inability to provide a service or increased costs or significant delays, etc, by reasonable diligence. This means BIFA Members


should collect evidence on each file to show what they have tried to do on a reasonable basis to try to prevent such consequences. Of course, the BIFA clause would


be overridden by any mandatorily applicable convention FM clause


such as Hague Visby Article IV, which sets out a full list of events exempting the carrier from liability. Sub clauses (h) dealing with quarantine restrictions and (q) being the sweep-up provision concerning any other cause without the fault or privity or neglect of the carrier, its servants or agents would assist. The burden of proof is on the carrier, so any Member using BIFA terms on house bills will have to gather the proof as an NVOC to show the exemption of liability in such cases. It should be able to flow down the proof as given by the actual carrier under the house bill.


Some, if not all, of the shipping


lines have been putting out press releases explaining what they are finding as a result of the virus and how it is affecting services, so Members should be able to pass on that information to customers, depending on the line they are using, and rely on it. In these sorts of situations communication is very important as customers need to know what the likely consequences are concerning their shipments.


BIFA is grateful to Associate BIFA Member Pysdens Solicitors for its help in preparing this article.


BIFAlink


Notice of Annual General Meeting


Notice is hereby given that the 31st Annual General Meeting of the British International Freight Association (BIFA) will be held at The Baltic Exchange, 38 St Mary Axe, City of London, EC3A 8BH, on Thursday 28 May at 12.45pm in order to: 1. Receive the report of the Board of Directors.


2. Receive the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2019 and the report of the auditors thereon.


3. Appoint auditors and authorise the Board to fix their remuneration.


4. In accordance with the Association’s Articles to note and approve the election of officers of the Association.


5. Transact any other business that may properly be transacted at an Annual General Meeting. Robert Keen, Director General 31 March 2020


Note: Any Member entitled to attend and vote at the above meeting may appoint a proxy to attend and vote on a poll in his or her stead. A proxy need not be a Member of the Association. A form of proxy is available to


download from the BIFA website www.bifa.org


By sea – Hague Visby rules (2 SDR): £2.29 per kg £763.09 per package


By road – CMR (8.33 SDR): £9.53 per kg


By air –Montreal Convention (22 SDR): £25.18 per kg


April 2020


By air –Warsaw Convention (17 SDR): £19.46 per kg


BIFA STC: (2 SDR): £2.29 per kg


(The SDR rate on 18 March 2020, according to the IMF website, was 1.14463)


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